Your views in 200 words or less

October 13, 2010 12:00 pm

The News Tribune’s not-so-ringing endorsement of the incumbent in the 8th Congressional District (editorial, 10-12) cites Dave Reichert’s “refreshingly congenial and bipartisan temperament,” his possible “clout” and his “growth.” Wow.

Voting with his caucus nearly 90 percent of the time is bipartisan only in comparison to other Republicans. Mavericky departures from Republican orthodoxy — and his judgment — demand skepticism when this back-bencher cannot resist bragging about his prowess in casting tactical votes. When the Seattle Times calls out Reichert’s lack of integrity in presenting his motivations, I am particularly disappointed that The News Tribune instead finds such misrepresentations congenial and bipartisan.

The national Republican agenda is to restore the policies that got us into the current mess. How could gaining a little “clout” justify empowering Michelle Bachmann, John Boehner and challengers like the candidate with the Nazi uniform in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District to dig the hole deeper.

Since re-election in 2008, Reichert has voted for Wall Street over consumers, to deny insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions, to protect employers that discriminate against women and against extending unemployment insurance benefits. That’s not growth; that’s callous indifference to the needs of his constituents.

Replacing this incumbent with Suzan DelBene – a younger, smarter, better-educated, experienced business executive – would be a valuable step toward protecting the nation from a return to the borrow-and-spend, trickle-up economics of the previous decade and a giant leap in the quality of knowledge, insight and judgment deployed on our behalf. Please reconsider this endorsement.

Feeds

Borrow and spend comes from the Dumboncracks! When you start talking about the state and federal government waste, then maybe you will be listened to. If it were not for the Dumboncracks telling banks under threat of lawsuits or more regulation, to lend money to people who could not afford the mortgages they took out, our economy would not be in the shape it is in. You are a Dumboncrack hack! Your lack of financial and political education shows.

Patriot62, maybe you can explain why, if the democrats were responsible for our financial crisis, it took 7 years of Republican control of the economy to have it crash. Sometimes ideological ossification of the brain simply extinguishes logic.

Once again the Lefties want to focus on something so minuscule so as to avoid the real topic—their inability to lead. This time the writer points out the Ohio 9th Congressional District Republican candidate for wearing a Nazi uniform as if that has something to do with his actual personal beliefs. Let’s all get a clue here—he was in a war re-enactment, that’s it. Did anyone take the time to see that he also does Revolutionary War re-enactments where he plays a Revolutionary soldier? Of course not. Or did anyone take the time to see he also is involved in Civil War re-enactments where he plays a Union soldier? Of course not.

This is why I have such a hard time ever listening to the Left. Every (and I mean EVERY) conservative candidate gets painted with the Nazi brush. This writer had me reading until they did that. It is no different then those who show Obama as the Anti-Christ—it’s stupid and unnecessary. So lefties, make your point like an intelligent person or is it that you don’t have that ability.

Retaining Reichert has national implications, and the potential Republican majority could include some very different members. Reference to the Nazi uniform–SS not German Army–allowed me to illustrate the point within the 250 word limit for letters to the editor. Taken alone, Mr. Iott’s garb might be out of context, but commentary in the Toledo Blade reports, “During a recent debate, 9th Congressional District candidate Rich Iott was indecisive about whether he would have voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act.” http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20101012/OPINION04/101019919/-1/OPINION

Mr. Iott faces other issues. The Toledo Blade reported:

Laura Emerson of WUPW’s news department confronted Mr. Iott with the printout from a March 19, 2010, Federal Election Commission disclosure for his donation of $500 to the Republican National Committee. The typewritten entry identified his employer as the State of Ohio and his occupation as “soldier.”

Mr. Iott said he was mystified as to how that came to be. He holds the rank of colonel in the Ohio Military Reserve, a unit of the Ohio Adjutant General’s office, that has trained for years, but has never been activated for duty.

pazzo242 – the major issues in this election are the economy, the economy, and the economy. Name calling and your letter are just more right wing red herrings meant to keep the focus off the republicans failed policy that put us in this mess in the first place

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